UNITED STATES—On February 19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin processing the first 25,000 asylum seekers under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which is known as the remain in Mexico policy.

In a February 11 press release, the Department of Homeland Security announced that they will begin phase one to restore safe and orderly processing at the southwest border.

President Joe Biden kept his campaign promise to reverse former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. On February 2, Biden revoked a series of immigration policies set into place by Trump including the, “Remain in Mexico,” policy.

Trump came to an agreement in 2019 with former President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while they were waiting for processing.

By June 2019, over 500,000 people were apprehended on the southwest border. Apprehensions in 2019 surpassed every fiscal year since 2009. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reportedly had more immigrants detained than agents on the SW border.

In 2019, immigration officers faced the problem of asylum seekers coming into the U.S. under the false pretense of seeking asylum and not appearing at their scheduled court date.

“As President Biden has made clear, the U.S. government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values. Especially at the border, however, where capacity constraints remain serious, changes will take time,” stated Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

“Individuals who are not eligible under this initial phase should wait for further instructions and not travel to the border. Due to the current pandemic, restrictions at the border remain in place and will be enforced,” Mayorkas continued.

Biden also reversed  other immigration laws including a halt on all deportations. Former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas Homan made the following statement:

“People are going to die. People will be raped,” Homan stated. “Biden made America a sanctuary jurisdiction.”